Gwen's first birthday party was a cake-smashing success!
It's almost as if Gwen knew today was a symbolic turning point between being a baby and being a toddler. When she woke up on the morning of the party, she started "officially" walking (15-20+ steps at a time, stop and go, changing directions, etc.). We guess that's her way of saying, "Hey, look! I'm a big girl now!" Great timing, Gwen!
For the big birthday event, Ariella came up with an old-time, ice cream "Sweet Shoppe" theme -- complete with retro pink and white decorations and a classic Soda Jerk menu (burgers, hot dogs, waffle fries, onion rings and root beer floats) and, of course, ice cream (sort of).
For the "sweet" part of the ice cream Sweet Shoppe theme, Ariella (with the help of Lindsay and Jenny) disguised all the birthday cupcakes as soft-serve ice cream cones and ice cream sundaes.
Those weren't all the sweets, though. Ariella also made chocolate-covered Oreos, Oreo truffles, and Red Velvet Cake Pops. (Unfortunately, we forgot to take photos of those goodies before everyone scarfed them down. They were tasty, though. Trust us.)
When she woke up from her nap, Gwen was mesmerized by the balloons. All that was left to do was put on her party dress, pose for some quick photos with Morgan -- and then it was party time.
While Gwen welcomed her party guests inside, Morgan took the party into the back yard and splashed around in the kiddie pool with Andrew and Katie.
Eventually, Gwen made her way outside, too. She put on her bathing suit, but she was more interested in checking on her grill and playing in the house with Cooper than swimming.
We even had old-time baskets for the food and soda jerk hats, to cap off the classic theme.
Next, we opened presents. Gwen got a caterpillar crawling tunnel, magna-doodle, Fisher-Price zoo, a talking picnic basket, talking telephone, drums to bang on, and more! Fun, fun, fun!
Finally, it was time for the main event: singing "Happy Birthday" and smashing the cake.
Gwen was a little unsure at first. ("Really? It's okay if I smash this? Really?!?") But as you'll see, she got into it... big time.
After that massive sugar rush, Gwen burned off some excess energy zipping through her caterpillar tunnel. Zoom!
Thanks to everyone for making the trip down to South Jersey for the party. Gwen obviously had a fantastic first day as a toddler.
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